DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the First Baptist Church of Palestine. Now settle in, because this congregation has been through more than most — fire, revival, and a nickname earned one nickel at a time. Palestine had only been the Anderson County seat for five years when Elders McKane and Zachariah Worley — Worley being an ordained minister — along with John and Sarah Smith, J.
E. and Rachel Teague, Thomas V. Smith, Theresa Stevens, and Annie Harris gathered together and organized a congregation. That was 1851.
In those early days, they didn't have a building to call their own, so they met for worship at Bascom Chapel, sharing the space with members of other early Palestine churches. A humble start — but they were just getting warmed up. By 1853, the Baptists had built their first proper sanctuary, right at the corner of Perry and Murchison streets.
That congregation grew into what folks around town came to call Old Town Baptist Church, and just one year later, in 1854, they were hosting the Baptist state convention. From shared chapel to statewide host in three years. Not bad for a young church on the Texas frontier.
Then comes 1879, and a man named Major William Penn rides into the story. Penn led Palestine's first revival meeting right there at that church, and something caught fire — not the building, not yet, but the spirit of the place. Under Penn's leadership, the congregation set about raising money to build something new.
And here's where it gets good: they did it through nickel contributions. Every nickel counted, every nickel added up, and when the new building on Avenue A was completed in 1887, the people of Palestine knew exactly what to call it — Avenue Nickel Baptist Church. A name earned the hard way, coin by coin.
But then came the fire. The marker doesn't linger on it, and neither will I — only to say the Avenue Church was destroyed. From those ashes, under the leadership of Reverend R.
L. Gillon, a new sanctuary rose on Sycamore Street, completed in 1912. The congregation that had worshipped in a borrowed chapel, built on a street corner, hosted a state convention, sparked a revival, raised a church on nickels, and survived a fire — that congregation pressed on.
Today they carry the name First Baptist Church of Palestine, still rooted in Anderson County, still reaching, as the marker puts it, around the world. One nickel at a time has a way of adding up to something that lasts.
What the marker says
First Baptist Church can trace its history to 1851, five years after Palestine was founded as the Anderson County seat. Elders McKane and Zachariah Worley (an ordained minister), John and Sarah Smith, J. E. and Rachel Teague, Thomas V. Smith, Theresa Stevens, and Annie Harris organized the congregation. They met for worship in Bascom Chapel, which they shared with members of other early Palestine churches. The Baptists built their first sanctuary at the corner of Perry and Murchison streets in 1853. There they became known as Old Town Baptist Church and hosted the Baptist state convention in 1854. In 1879, the church hosted Palestine's first revival meeting led by Major William Penn. Under Penn's leadership, the congregation raised money through nickel contributions to build a new church on Avenue A. The new building, completed in 1887, became known as Avenue "Nickel" Baptist Church. After a fire destroyed the Avenue Church, a new sanctuary was completed on Sycamore Street under the leadership of the Rev. R. L. Gillon in 1912. Now known as First Baptist Church of Palestine, the congregation continues its commitment to Christian mission and ministry in Palestine, Anderson County and around the world. (2001)